High Five for Friday

What a great week it's been.  I love lazy, unscheduled July days.  Here are a few of the memorable things we did.

1.  Despicable Me 2

I absolutely LOVE going to movies.  And we ALL loved this one.  So funny.  So cute.  It was a great way to spend a belated Family Night this week.  

2.  Patriotic Hymns

I only get to let loose on the organ and play these loud, bold hymns one month out of the year, so this week I picked the BIG ones!  The Star Spangled Banner and Battle Hymn of the Republic.  I LOVE patriotic music at church.  And I have LOVED practicing these all week.  

3.  Festive Fingernails

I NEVER paint my fingernails.  It's too hard to pay attention to the music when I look down and see all that flashy color.  But since it was the Fourth of July, I decided to be festive and try one of those fun, funky ideas from Pinterest.  (The blue ones are supposed to be striped, but I can barely get the paint on without making a giant mess, so I knew stripes weren't going to be a success.)  I got lots of compliments on them last night.

4.  Masses of Cupcakes

I pinned this cute recipe from a blog I love and saved it for this week.  These are the cutest cupcakes and SO yummy.  There are crushed up cinnamon red hots in the frosting!!  And those fun little star shaped marshmallows on top.  Huge hit!  You can find the recipe here.

5.  Fireworks with Friends

Every year, our awesome neighbors have a Fourth of July picnic.  They make brisket and BBQ and provide drinks and chairs, and we bring all the sides and desserts.  And then as the sun starts to set, we throw kids, chairs, and blankets into cars and drive as close to McKinney as we can get, to watch their fireworks show.  This year our smart neighbors brought their truck and we all piled in the back of it to watch the fireworks in the distance.  It was a perfect night.  This unseasonably cool July weather has been such a nice change.

I love fireworks.  I love neighbors.  And I love that Dallas is flat enough that we can sit in Allen and watch fireworks shows in both McKinney and Plano.  It's the one time of year that I don't miss those Utah mountains.  

Hope your first week of July has been amazing and filled with fun, friends, food, and fireworks!